Mar. 26
12:30 pm JST

Mar. 26
12:31 pm JST

This must have JUST started after the Olympics were postponed, because there was certainly no spread before that, and in fact, if you suggested there were you were asked to be quiet or leave. Hmmm... perhaps if they had put health first instead, Japan wouldn't be about to become the next US.

Mar. 26
12:32 pm JST

Mar. 26
12:37 pm JST

They waited for the Olympics and hence testing was minimal. The number moved from 1000 to 1500 in the last 1 month exluding diamond princess related cases, which is completely false. Now that Olympics have been postponed, now they talk subtly about lockdown, explosion of infections and cases now increasing suddenly. Very disappointing! When billions are under lockdown, people in JP are enjoying sakura, K1, lunches etc!

Mar. 26
12:37 pm JST

Mar. 26
12:38 pm JST

A government panel of experts on Thursday said new-coronavirus infections in Japan appear highly likely to be "rampant

And just like that...magically within a day after officially postponing the Olympics we have Koike urging Tokyo residents to avoid going out unnecessarily and Abe,s yes men " panel of experts" declaring the virus " rampant" after weeks and weeks of proclaiming that infection increase rate in Japan is minimal and Japan appears to be " controlling the outbreak.

Anyone who can not see that for the past month Jgovt prioritized the Olympic $$ over the health of its population is blind. Disgusting.

Can we now finally have the testing ramped up from a few hundred a day to the trumpeted 8000 capacity so we get the true picture of where Japan stands Shinzo?

Mar. 26
12:44 pm JST

Mar. 26
12:46 pm JST

A government panel of experts on Thursday said new-coronavirus infections in Japan appear highly likely to be "rampant"

That is so surprising ... It is not like for days/weeks WHO is going round and round asking countries to do test, for one reason, because that pandemic can go undetected for a while before exploding. The whole world will be stunned to hear of that.

I guess time to sort needed thing out, do not hoard (regarding other countries even if they mass quarantine they should not dare go stronger than Occident, so supermarket will stay open and supply chain working so do not mass buy and if you are at risk it should be better to wait until the hoard get out of supermarket to shop).

Mar. 26
12:57 pm JST

It's not all on the Olympics, Abe really wants a legacy and a pandemic just wasn't seen as enough to deny him that. It's just so embarrassing that just one day the Olympics were deferred the pandemic is suddenly a priority? By the way where is he? Preparing for his premium Friday?

Mar. 26
12:58 pm JST

I have been saying for weeks Japan has to do more testing, self quarantine, keep the school's closed, have social distancing, and have everyone stay home from work if their job is non essential. Can't anyone in Japan see what's going on all over the world!!!

Mar. 26
01:00 pm JST

Mar. 26
01:01 pm JST

@marcelito

And just like that...magically within a day after officially postponing the Olympics we have Koike urging Tokyo residents to avoid going out unnecessarily and Abe,s yes men " panel of experts" declaring the virus " rampant" after weeks and weeks of proclaiming that infection increase rate in Japan is minimal and Japan appears to be " controlling the outbreak.

Anyone who can not see that for the past month Jgovt prioritized the Olympic $ over the health of its population is blind. Disgusting.

Can we now finally have the testing ramped up from a few hundred a day to the trumpeted 8000 capacity so we get the true picture of where Japan stands Shinzo?

...and because of this, what I've gathered, many young & middle-aged Japanese don't trust the Japanese news & Abe anymore, especially regards to the virus. I have acquaintances who are organising events in Tokyo, declaring in social media platforms that they don't want to be pushed around by Abe and other loons, that because of their ambivalent actions they don't believe in the dangers of the virus anymore, thus they will not cancel their events next weekend. They think it's dangerous only for the elderly, and that checking the temperature of the guests is enough to prevent the virus spreading. ....uhhh. I'm at a loss.

I'm actually really hoping for strict measures for Tokyo, immediately: official orders to cancel events, official orders to work remotely (for the professions that this doable), official orders to stay home.

Mar. 26
01:03 pm JST

The lockdown is coming soon. Probably early next week, I think. It should happen tomorrow, but even if Abe's govt. decides to do it right now, it'd take them 4 days to implement. Only when the famous get it will someone like Abe move.

He must have been totally shocked when Ken Shimura got it. 'What? Not just the run of the mill citizen, someone important is sick! We must do something, now!'

Mar. 26
01:09 pm JST

Mar. 26
01:09 pm JST

What a big surprise that is, NOT! When you have tens of thousands of people ignoring social-distancing rules and a passive government making ‘suggestions’ and ‘urging’ people to stay home it is inevitable there will be a major increase in cases in Japan. Unless Japan takes strict action against the spread of the virus it will quickly be one the new Italy.

Mar. 26
01:15 pm JST

It's not just the lack of testing, though. There is literally no policy, - national or local - to deal with those domestic workers who are reporting cold and flu like symptoms. Unless you have been abroad recently, the expectation is that you will turn up for work. Of course the virus is rampant! How would it not be?

Mar. 26
01:17 pm JST

Things will only get real serious with the public under martial law or when people start dying in droves.Neither is happening as of yet.When you have 800 people dying in a day in Italy and Tokyo saying 40 got infections.Not deaths,just infections,you're not going to move the needle much in stopping people viewing blossoms or going out.Plus Corona fatigue has started settling in!

Mar. 26
01:21 pm JST

This is, sincerely speaking here, one time I wish I wasn't right. I noted on numerous occasions that when the Olympics get postponed or cancelled, there would be a spike in numbers, its coming and everyone should be pointing a finger at Abe!

Mar. 26
01:31 pm JST

An absolute disgrace. Shame on you. Absolutely disgusting. NOW this “realisation”. The Japanese govt put the international communities health at risk. Some of humanities greatest athlete at risk. An absolute disgrace.

Mar. 26
01:32 pm JST

This is, sincerely speaking here, one time I wish I wasn't right. I noted on numerous occasions that when the Olympics get postponed or cancelled, there would be a spike in numbers, its coming and everyone should be pointing a finger at Abe!

Nothing to do with the Olympics. Just the idiotic actions of the past week, opening amusement parks, allowing K-1 event to go ahead, and people seeing that on the news and following suit, with no strong advice to avoid such actions.

Mar. 26
01:44 pm JST

What a big surprise that is, NOT! When you have tens of thousands of people ignoring social-distancing rules and a passive government making ‘suggestions’ and ‘urging’ people to stay home it is inevitable there will be a major increase in cases in Japan. Unless Japan takes strict action against the spread of the virus it will quickly be one the new Italy.

They didn't even really urge last week, that is the problem. Only the Osaka governor did and that was his own personal decision.

Mar. 26
01:49 pm JST

Mar. 26
01:56 pm JST

Welp, Japan is now off to the pandemic control races! Late to the effective starting line most unfortunately. Yep, too many people here were calling it for what it was quite a while ago. Now that the Olympic glory has FINALLY been postponed.... After I also mentioned the same thing quite a while ago.... Japanese politicians are too damned slow on the uptake. Dragging their feet like their lives (and deaths) depended on it.

Mar. 26
02:01 pm JST

Mar. 26
02:02 pm JST

Are you trying to go for the move : not the national government fault. It is someone else fault ?

@YeahRight

Oh, and be sure to buy lots of toilet paper, instant ramen, feminine products, masks, and hand sanitizer for the coming lock down.

Thanks to not push people into doing mass buying. As said before, even in the event of a mass quarantine, the supermarket are most likely to stay open. You do not have to mass buy.

Even if you aim to stock for a month or so just do it slowly in the course of a few weeks, please. There is nothing bad about being a prepper moreover in a country with natural disaster but it is something which is done thought time. Starting doing it at last minute in hoard can put other people in difficulty as they will not find what they need now. So in this kind of situation, please be considerate and aim at a lower rate of overbuying to stock and you can also adjust to stuff which are not now in high demand but are as good if not better : soup for one (but still without mass-buying, please).

Mar. 26
02:12 pm JST

Oh, and be sure to buy lots of toilet paper, instant ramen, feminine products, masks, and hand sanitizer for the coming lock down.

Prepare, certainly, but only buy as much as you need. Buying more than you need and hoarding means that someone else who does need food or toiletries will go without. The rush on stores we're seeing is a result of that thinking.

If your nearest supermarket is out of what you need, think about other places near you that might be able to help: does a nearby liquor store also stock ramen, for example.

Stay inside this weekend. Stay inside as much as you can in the coming weeks.

Give to your neighbours if they are in need and if you can.

Stay inside this weekend.

For foreigners (so, most of us), observe and obey Japanese customs. Playing the "gaijin card" and ignoring inconvenient niceties of Japanese society is always a bad idea, but is an extremely bad idea now. In times of stress like this, the last thing anyone needs is to stoke an "us vs them" attitude, when we should all be in this together.

Stay inside this weekend.

Let your friends and family back home know you are safe and taking precautions.

Mar. 26
02:13 pm JST

Japanese officialdom’s reluctance to acknowledge and accept reality and disturbingly Orwellian preference for airbrushing unpalatable facts comes as no surprise to those of us here on the forum who refuse to be taken in and instead insist on honesty and accountability. It’s been instructive to observe too the deafening silence of that small and fast shrinking cadre of myth peddling true believers whose wide eyed gullibility the government has shamelessly exploited and who are now left to fend for themselves as the narrative switches to panic stations and the masses adopt a save yourself and to hell with the rest fatalism.

Mar. 26
02:13 pm JST

(some country) claims to have zero new infections, (some country) claimed to have slight increase in numbers every since the cruise ship fiasco. The rest of the world has seen exponential increases. Makes my blood boil the government in charge. Only other country to claim zero infections is probably N. Korea. Triple axis of evil? As for supermarkets, just limit 2 per customer and all should be well. During the typhoon last year, shelves were emptied and long lines at the registers...that's panic buying and the same thing is going on here.

Mar. 26
02:29 pm JST

If the govt. guarantees a percentage of salaries, as is happening in other nations, things will change. Until that happens they can request that people stay home till they're blue in the face; folks will still go to work.

Mar. 26
02:38 pm JST

Mar. 26
02:40 pm JST

Governor of Kanagawa prefecture just made the same announcement as Koike did yesterday about non-essential outings. Chiba and Saitama should soon following since these four blocks make up the 37.4 million Tokyo metropolitan area.

They’ve been muzzled like that Chinese doctor who later died. Coronavirus rampant everywhere in Japan could not be said of because the world was about to visit for the Olympics.

Japan is dreading to go into lockdown mode for its effect on the economy, which has replaced the Olympics as the sacred cow. There is no concept of cutting off the hand to save the arm but rather just wait and hope that you don’t lose your arm.

The US Senate has passed a bill to support its people: $1200 per adult and $500 each children during this crisis. This means $1200 for students over 18 as well. $2 trillion dollars.

¥220,000,000,000,000. How much are you willing to support the people of Japan Mr. Abe?

Mar. 26
02:41 pm JST

Mar. 26
02:47 pm JST

Quercetum, I don’t believe anyone got the memo. Just got back from my jog and wound up using alternative routes as my normal route was packed with Hanami viewers and large groups of people having picnics, and the very large groups for high school kids practicing rugby, baseball, soccer and so on.

Mar. 26
03:01 pm JST

For foreigners (so, most of us), observe and obey Japanese customs. Playing the "gaijin card" and ignoring inconvenient niceties of Japanese society is always a bad idea, but is an extremely bad idea now.

funny you should say that , there were thousands at the cheery blossom last weekend and most were Japanese

Mar. 26
03:03 pm JST

Mar. 26
03:07 pm JST

Japanese officialdom’s reluctance to acknowledge and accept reality and disturbingly Orwellian preference for airbrushing unpalatable facts comes as no surprise to those of us here on the forum who refuse to be taken in and instead insist on honesty and accountability. It’s been instructive to observe too the deafening silence of that small and fast shrinking cadre of myth peddling true believers whose wide eyed gullibility the government has shamelessly exploited and who are now left to fend for themselves as the narrative switches to panic stations and the masses adopt a save yourself and to hell with the rest fatalism.

Why do you think other countries had to implement large-scale lockdowns in the first place? Because that is the only way to get through to them. So stop pretending this is something unique to Japanese.

Mar. 26
03:09 pm JST

Mar. 26
03:12 pm JST

Japanese officialdom’s reluctance to acknowledge and accept reality and disturbingly Orwellian preference for airbrushing unpalatable facts comes as no surprise to those of us here on the forum who refuse to be taken in and instead insist on honesty and accountability. It’s been instructive to observe too the deafening silence of that small and fast shrinking cadre of myth peddling true believers whose wide eyed gullibility the government has shamelessly exploited and who are now left to fend for themselves as the narrative switches to panic stations and the masses adopt a save yourself and to hell with the rest fatalism.

> Why do you think other countries had to implement large-scale lockdowns in the first place? Because that is the only way to get through to them. So stop pretending this is something unique to Japanese.

Think I misread the post I was quoting but if it was about government official's, the same thing applies. Other leaders acted too late and then had to apply drastic measures.

Mar. 26
03:20 pm JST

My house is near a university rowing clubhouse that is shared by three universities from Kobe and Osaka. A little beyond the clubhouse there's a big park with soccer fields, tennis courts, gateball pitches, basketball courts, etc. This morning there was a group of over 50 people at the rowing clubhouse. The soccer fields, basketball courts, baseball fields were filled with what appeared to be high school clubs as the kids were wearing team uniforms. Many groups of people were having BBQs in the park too.

It seems a bit counterproductive for all these clubs and circles to continue their activities schools are shut down and universities are cancelling their classes due to health concerns related to COVID-19.

Mar. 26
03:23 pm JST

This rise is strong, but it’s proportionate.

It is NOT exponential.

Exponential is like 2-4-8-16.. .Like that. Please understand and don’t panic. The numbers are high, but they are in line with the numbers they are climbing from. And I’m speaking of international. Japan is much slower.

Mar. 26
03:33 pm JST

I told Prime Minister Abe there is a high risk of coronavirus spreading widely," Health Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters

The same minister last week yes last week issued a report also written in English where they claimed that based on science, Japan was not seeing any large scale propagation and that the Japanese decision not to test a very large number of people was more than adequate. They even went as far as claiming that 80% of the people infected in Japan did not infect anyone else in contrary to all epidemiologist studies of the virus which have found a high contagion rate. But now we are told that there is a high risk of coronavirus spreading widely. They are just pathetic.

It seems that we are discovering that the Olympics have the power to quickly change the Japanese science.

Mar. 26
03:53 pm JST

Why am I not surprised they don't have a task force yet, let alone they are only thinking of forming one to talk about what they might do if they form a panel to act on it after initial thoughts on it are sent to a committee to vote on making a decision to put forward legislation to debate doing something about it?

Mar. 26
04:13 pm JST

Mar. 26
04:47 pm JST

My understanding of exponential growth is the increase of something at a consistent rate

Exponential growth is when the rate of growth becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number. It doesn't have to square the previous number, just to grow at a consistently faster rate.

What happens with the coronavirus isn't strictly speaking exponential growth, but near enough I suppose to make no difference. The trend is increasingly upward.

Mar. 26
06:34 pm JST

Ah yes, the typical Japanese government response to a crisis; make a taskforce, have meetings, create a think-tank and then...deny any wrongdoing and make a halfhearted apology after many people have died.

Mar. 26
07:12 pm JST

The key figure is the death toll alongside number of critically ill patients. Japan's number continued to remain low at 45 (+2 newly confirmed), with no exponential increase. "Late-comer" US has to date reported more than 1,000 deaths (not confirmed cases!)....things are more worrying :(

The state of emergency is the last resort, could risk of paving the way for a totalitarian regime. Its declaration should be super-carefully made with thorough update info, inquiries and consultation with experts.

Mar. 26
07:45 pm JST

Mar. 26
08:18 pm JST

The key figure is the death toll alongside number of critically ill patients. Japan's number continued to remain low at 45 (+2 newly confirmed), with no exponential increase.

How do you know that ? The number we have is just the positive tested people. We have no idea for the untested people.

In a country were the average daily death is more than 3000 person, how big an increase is needed for people to notice something is going wrong ?

https://countrymeters.info/en/Japan

And I think you are over-estimating the power linked to the state of emergency in Japan.

A state of emergency would allow governors in hard-hit regions to take steps such as asking people to stay home, closing schools and other public facilities and cancelling large events.

[...]

Even if a state of emergency is eventually declared, experts noted there are no penalties for ignoring most of the local authorities' instructions.

Just have government bear some responsibility about the situation instead of having as for Tokyo&co and Hokkaido case, the governor asking with 0 legal basis so no enforcement, penalty, incitement, ... just having people/company fend for themselves and bear all consequences.

Mar. 26
09:04 pm JST

The last 3 paragraphs sums up the attitude of people in Tokyo! They don’t take the initiative to be safe and yet will go out all guns blazing by blaming the Government or others when this infection spreads out of control... a bit of sacrifice by avoiding social gatherings is needed by everyone to overcome this pandemic!!!

Mar. 26
09:09 pm JST

We wait for what? What is the emergency trigger factor? After 50-100 people die in a week? Sounds like a real strategy Abe cut out. I just have a pessimistic feeling the doo doo is going to hit the fan hard on this.

Mar. 26
09:25 pm JST

Mar. 26
09:51 pm JST

could risk of paving the way for a totalitarian regime. Its declaration should be super-carefully made with thorough update info, inquiries and consultation with experts.

Clearly been reading the Mills and Boone edition of how to behave.Abe has never shown any propensity to listen to anyone in his decision making.He's married,but childless,so has nothing at stake in what he decides.His ultimate mission is constitution change and this virus is clock-blocking that and the Olympics.I detest the jokester,but have refrained from critiquing his handling.It's a crisis that no-one would want.But he wanted to stay in power longer, so it's his problem and I have real low expectations going by his record this long.And if you look at other major G-7 countries leaders,they ain't covering themselves in glory either.

Mar. 26
10:09 pm JST

Initially, it was Japan that was 2nd only to China with infection rates, and most of those were from the Diamond Princess. Then it slowly spread globally, later became a pandemic. Still puzzled why Japan declined or flat lined in numbers. Maybe the people have an immunity due to generations of tough life here?

Mar. 26
10:13 pm JST

TheLongTermer: "Then it slowly spread globally, later became a pandemic. Still puzzled why Japan declined or flat lined in numbers."

Nope. It's because they weren't testing. You do know that if you never test, you never find people with the virus. Amazing how that works. Isn't there an African nation that also declared they have no cases that is suddenly declaring an emergency?

"Maybe the people have an immunity due to generations of tough life here?"

Mar. 26
10:14 pm JST

Mar. 26
10:29 pm JST

I have been saying for weeks to people around me: "Wait until the Olympic Games are postponed. Then "suddenly" there will be more cases. Then finally some drastic measures will be taken, like in Western Europe."

JapanToday.com published an article a few days ago reading that testing in Japan was just a fraction of its capacity.

Odd.

What has been done for the last few weeks? Only anticipating the end of the school year.

I am shocked to see that people in Japan don't seem to get it. Alas, life should not be as usual these days.

I hope so much that I am wrong. But I am afraid this is a time bomb. It is really scary.

If, indeed, we get to a situation like in Italy or NYC, the Japanese government will have a lot to answer ...

Mar. 26
10:57 pm JST

Exponential is like 2-4-8-16.. .Like that. Please understand and don’t panic. The numbers are high, but they are in line with the numbers they are climbing from. And I’m speaking of international. Japan is much slower.

Remind me of how many cases there were in the USA a month ago.

And cases do double - once only 2 people had had it and now 480,00 have it, so that's a fair bit of doubling in the number of cases. It does not mean doubling daily.

But for the record, on March 21 , 300,000 had been infected. Today it's 500,000.

At this rate, we will get to a million in a week or so. I don't understand why people keep on playing the implications of this down.

Mar. 26
11:19 pm JST

Mar. 26
11:48 pm JST

@TheLongTermer

So where are the sick people? Its been 3 months now

It all comes down to how deaths are recorded. Did they die of covid-19? Or was it pneumonia, or sepsis, or organ failure? I've been curious to see if there is an upward tend in these other causes of death, but I read recently that these statistics are only released to the public every three years, most recently in November last year... guess we'll get our answer in 2022.

Mar. 26
11:48 pm JST

There's a rumour going around that while many countries are offering cash to its residents to help cope with the situation financially, the Japanese government is hoping to offer people wagyu beef coupons!!!!!!! Don't know if it's true, but really???!!!!

Mar. 26
11:53 pm JST

There's a rumour going around that while many countries are offering cash to its residents to help cope with the situation financially, the Japanese government is hoping to offer people wagyu beef coupons!!!!!!! Don't know if it's true, but really???!!!!

I'd say this is the smartest thing the J-gov has done this whole time if true. A cash gift will wind up in savings accounts wasting away. Vouchers for things people can consume will keep people employed.

Mar. 27
12:51 am JST

To Thelongtermer : they have either died or at home or working sick. Some people infected have little to no symptoms but the are carriers and can pass the virus on to many people who can then pass it on to many other who could be elderly or have a an underlying medical condition. Hate to say it but Japan's numbers are going to explode in the next couple of weeks. Everyone take care wash your hands, do social distancing and stay home unless you absolutely have to go out.

Mar. 27
12:53 am JST

TheLongTermer: "So where are the sick people? Its been 3 months now"

You mean the more than 1500, when it was only like 500 a few days ago, and not including the Diamond Princess figures? You do realize that you're asking this about a nation that refuses to say there might be any correlation to the spike in kids' cancer rates in Fukushima with the plant meltdown, and that doesn't say suicide from overwork is the company's fault in pretty much all cases, right? They're going to mark down any death from pneumonia brought on by Corona as death by pneumonia, not Corona, as much as they possibly can.

Mar. 27
01:23 am JST

Akie, Are you "trying" to say that I'm disappointed that Japan's numbers aren't higher? You are so mistaken. I have friends all over the world I keep in contact with them, I hear and see what's happening in their countries. I see what's happening right now where I live, Canada. A very large country with 6 1/2 times less people than Japan yet we have 3 times the covid 19 rate. The reason for that is "testing" Canada started testing early Japan for some strange reason isn't testing as many as it can. I think it had a lot to do with the Olympics. I love Japan and my wife who is Japanese. I have visited Japan 9 times and had a great time on every visit. I wish you, you're family and friends and Japan only the very best. Stay healthy.

Mar. 27
03:05 am JST

From a PR standpoint, this is going to absolutely blow up in Japan Inc.'s face.

Once some of the little warriors at the Washington Post and the NYTimes start to get tired of writing about how Covid-19 is all Trump's fault, one of them is going to stumble across the story about the country that spent a month sweeping pandemic victims under the rug to protect their Olympic hosting slot... only to have it explode later on.

Mar. 27
04:00 am JST

Mar. 27
04:01 am JST

Captain, I wouldn't be too sure.

WaPo and NYT will never get tired of blaming Trump. If they follow their pattern of ignoring China's response in order to focus their hatred on Trump, they'll have no trouble ignoring Japan. Especially now that the Diamond Princess is out of the headlines.

Mar. 27
11:40 am JST

Japan has taken herd immunity approach and will now be in this for the long haul. Compare it to Taiwan who have handled this well. As has Korea. Gonna be a nasty summer locked in your little rabbit hutches with no aircon. Abe out!

Mar. 27
12:25 pm JST

Mar. 27
03:13 pm JST

Mar. 27
04:45 pm JST

Japan to set up coronavirus task force;

I am always critical about the predictable 20/20 hindsight comments ("should have done earlier, bla bla..."), but in this case, come one! We all saw this coming for a whole month at least, and they set up a task force to coordinate measures NOW? Someone pinch me.

Mar. 27
11:31 pm JST

I personally think a herd mentality is dangerous. You have so many people running around doing things and reacting out of the herd. It kinda sapps away necessary things for an organic ecosystem and people just hoard away things and it creates waste. I feel their reaction is not real in this situation.